US Government threatens Croatian’s GMO
moratorium with WTO action

Zagreb/Brussels/Vienna/Washington DC, Dec 10, 2001 -
Environmental groups participating at a Roundtable on
BioSafety organised by the Croatian Environment
Ministry in Zagreb today denounced the US bullying of
the Croatian Government against its plans to adopt a
moratorium on GMOs. In June 2001, four Croatian
ministries agreed on the text of a draft law to ban
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and products
thereof until the Government a more specific regulatory
framework is in place.

Since September, Croatia has been under increasing US
pressure to drop the draft law. In a memo dated November 28
and addressed to the Ministry of Environment from the U.S.
Embassy in Zagreb the U.S. tries to put trade before
environmental protection stating “if such a ban is
implemented, the U.S. Government must consider its rights
under WTO.”

“It is outragous that the U.S. interferes in our policy-making by
imposing their trade priorities over our environment and health
protection efforts,” said Damjan Bogdanovic from the NGO
Zelena Akcija (Green Action - Friends of the Earth Croatia).
"Countries in the EU have adopted a moratorium on GMOs. I
do not see why Croatia should be prevented from
implementing similar measures.“ The moratorium in the EU
was adopted in 1999 and has recently been confirmed to
ensure that no GMOs are marketed until the new regulatory
framework is in place. The EU has not approved any GMOs in
the last three years.

The memo from the U.S. Embassy also asserts that biotech
food products “have been demonstrated to be as safe as
conventional food products in the U.S. and elsewhere.”
However, U.S. groups acknowledge in a letter addressed to
the Croatian Minister of Environment in response to this
memo, that the U.S. regulatory framework and monitoring
policies are inadequate, as confirmed by the ongoing scandal
with StarLink GMO corn. In October 2000, GMO corn called
StarLink authorized only for animal feed and not human
consumption due to its allergenic potential, was found to be
widespread in food and seed supply in the U.S. and later on in
Japan and South Korea. More than 300 corn-based products
had to be recalled. In July 2001, a U.S. panel of experts on
allergenicity stated that there was insufficient data to conclude
with reasonable certainty that there was an acceptable level of
StarLink corn that people could eat.

“Despite the inability of the U.S. to control GMOs, it is
pushing its inadequate regulatory system on others around
the world,” said Iza Kruszewska from ANPED Northern
Alliance for Sustainability, a NGO network based in
Amsterdam.